


Everyone Is Concerned

by scentedpinecone



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Post-Episode 06e19, Post-Episode 06e19 I Am My Monster, Romance, Steven Universe Needs Therapy, Teen love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23662480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scentedpinecone/pseuds/scentedpinecone
Summary: The day after Steven's meltdown, everyone is concerned.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 10
Kudos: 98





	Everyone Is Concerned

**Author's Note:**

> I would appreciate some criticism to help improve my writing style, so feel free to comment whatever comes to mind (:

Steven awoke from a very deep sleep.

No dreams were fresh on his mind, which was very foreign. He felt as if he hadn’t dreamed at all, which was strange considering the events of the prior evening. Having transformed into a giant pink monster, destroyed his house, and cried everything out, his physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion had quickly caught up to him, and he was ready to sleep at 8 pm. With the promise that he would text Connie upon waking the next morning, he was brought back to the house and put to bed where he was out like a light the moment his head hit the pillow.

Steven gave a groggy sigh, already knowing it had to be past 12 in the afternoon. Upon peeling open his heavy eyelids, the first thing he saw was Pearl sitting lazily at the foot of his bed. Noticing the shift of movement, she turned around.

“Oh, he’s awake!”

Steven sat up, rubbing at his eyes to easier adjust them to the light. He heard footsteps of people approaching the bed. He opened his eyes once again, squinting at the figures before him, and recognizing Garnet, Amethyst, and his dad alongside Pearl, who he’d already seen.

“Mornin, schtu-ball. How ya feeling?” came Greg’s familiar voice. Steven faced him, eyes finally adjusting to the harsh afternoon lighting that shot through his newly-cracked sliding door.

“Tired," was all Steven replied. His body felt like a brick. The combined exhausting events of the day before had certainly sapped his energy. He felt as though every inch of him was bruised. Amethyst spoke next.

“Well, then let’s get you some breakfast, dude! Anything you want!” Steven looked around the room, taking notice of a blanket and pillow set up on the floor next to his bed, likely for his dad.

“Were you guys here all night?” he asked tiredly. “Uhh," began Amethyst, before Garnet stepped in. “We didn’t want to leave your side.”

“Yes, just in case anything else happened," added Pearl. Steven turned to check the clock. 12:34 pm. He’d slept about 16 hours straight. He scrubbed a hand over his face and hair and threw off his covers to get up.

“So, should we meet you downstairs?” Greg asked, offering some time for Steven to get ready.

“Yeah," Steven responded, to which the gems and Greg turned to leave, giving sympathetic smiles as they did.

Steven sat at his bedside for a moment, recollecting everything. Had it all actually happened? Did he really just go on a corrupt, monstrous rampage only hours ago? It seemed hazy and vague. Groaning, he buried his face in his hands as he remembered the damage to the house. It wasn’t guilt he felt, it was more like frustration. Of all the times his house had been destroyed, he never expected to be the cause of one. It would definitely take some time to fix.

He finally decided to get up and get dressed, cringing as he walked down to assess the damage. A giant tarp had been placed over the gaping hole to prevent weather and bugs, but that didn’t stop a small breeze from fluttering inside and keeping the room slightly air conditioned, since the actual A/C was damaged in the process. The others were waiting on the couch for him, talking in hushed voices with very concerned looks on their faces.

Rather than making his presence known right away, Steven went to the kitchen to pour himself a bowl of cereal. Rampaging sure does work up an appetite. The gems and Greg noticed him in the kitchen, discontinuing their conversation, but allowing Steven a moment to eat before they acknowledged him.

Once he finished, he set his dishes in the sink and silently walked over to the couch, taking a seat where it hadn’t been torn apart.

“Well, hello there, Steven," Pearl said, far too casually with a half-forced grin. Steven looked at her and sighed.

“Are we gonna talk about this?” He motioned his arm toward the nearly missing wall of the house. The gems eyed each other.

“Steven, don’t worry about that. We wanted to talk about you," Amethyst said. Steven looked at the floor.

“I’m sorry about what happened… I didn’t mean to break Little Homeworld, or the anvil, or the house… I didn’t realize how bad… I just should have come to you guys for help in the first place," he admitted softly. All their concerned looks sharpened. Greg spoke next.

“Steven, that’s not what we wanted to talk about!” he said.

“Yeah”, Amethyst agreed. “Little Homeworld has seen worse, we’ll get the house fixed, none of that matters!”

“That’s right," Pearl nodded. “We’re just concerned about your whole corrupted monster-OW," she was cut off as Amethyst elbowed her. Pearl was notoriously blunt when it came to sensitive situations.

“Steven," Garnet spoke.

“We want you to understand that you’re our priority above all else. And we need to understand what we can do to help you work through this. We’re going to ask you to start thinking about yourself, and let us be the Steven for once," she finished, effectively. Steven stared at her, the message sinking in.

“Alright…” he agreed, reluctantly.

The gems looked at Greg, who pulled out his phone.

“We agreed it would be a good idea to try and find you an online therapist. I looked this morning and found some really great candidates.” He handed the phone over to Steven, allowing him to swipe through the various profiles. Steven noticed that each one seemed to specialize in trauma and PTSD, but he didn’t comment on it.

“You don’t have to decide on one now, but I’d like you to think about it," Greg said. Steven smiled as he handed the phone back.

“Thanks, dad. Therapy is a good idea.”

“Actually, Dr. Maheswaran has been on my case about it, so we have her to thank," Greg admitted sheepishly. Steven remembered that at the hospital, she had mentioned talking to Greg about getting Steven a GP, and after seeing his reactions to stress, it was no surprise that she had gone as far as to suggest a therapist as well. He wondered how much Dr. Maheswaran knew about the day before, whether Connie had mentioned it, or even talked about it with her.

Oh right.

“Oh yeah, I was supposed to text Connie when I woke up… she’ll probably want to talk for a bit. Can we continue this later today?” he asked.

“Of course!” Greg responded.

“We mostly just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.” Steven smiled at that.

“Thanks, guys.” He then pulled out his phone and messaged Connie. She answered immediately, requesting that they meet up and talk in person. As they did with all important Connversations, Steven decided they should talk on the beach, where they were highly unlikely to be listened in on or disturbed.

“I’m gonna go talk to Connie. I’ll see you guys later.” With that, he walked outside to find Lion.

A portal opened in front of Connie’s house, where she was waiting anxiously on the front step. Lion jumped through with Steven, who dismounted upon landing.

“Steven!” Connie exclaimed, hopping up and practically tackling him with a force that would have knocked him over if not for his muscular build. “Hi, Connie," Steven greeted, returning the gesture. Connie drew back, hands on his shoulders.

“How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay? Any nightmares?” Steven offered a half-smile.

“I’m okay, really. I slept great, actually," he assured. Connie stared a moment, as if debating whether to believe him.

“You sure?” she inquired suspiciously. Steven laughed a small “yes", to which Connie put a relieved smile on her face, careful to hide the twinge of doubt she felt from her tone.

“Well, that’s good to hear. Let’s get going.”

Steven noted the sense of urgency in her voice. He didn’t blame her for her eagerness to finally hear from him. He didn’t know whether to dread or look forward to the coming conversation, and decided it was a bit of both until he could truly know what he was in for. The two mounted Lion and portaled to the beach, not too close to town or the house. Upon arrival, they jumped off of their noble steed, allowing him to get back to doing Lion things.

Steven led Connie to a shaded spot beneath a wall of rocks where the sand had cooled. The shape of the structure kept the breeze from interfering with them. The two sat side by side and stared straight ahead. Not knowing where to start, they sat in silence for a moment, awkwardly fidgeting as they racked their brains for a way to begin such a broad topic. As seconds painfully dragged on to a minute, they finally faced each other to simultaneously blurt, “I’m sorry- I mean-”, they both shut their mouths. Connie took her turn.

“Wait, why are _you_ sorry?” she confronted. Steven looked shocked.

“Because I suppressed all my feelings, refused any help I was offered, and became that… thing! You knew something was wrong and you TRIED to help me, but all I did was lie and push you away.”

It was Connie’s turn to look shocked. “Steven, you were hurting! All those things you said, how you’ll just keep ‘fixing things’ and none of us ever have to know, I can’t begin to imagine what you must have been feeling all this time! I’m here because I want to help you through this, not because I’m angry. You have NOTHING to be sorry for.”

Steven stared for a second, then sighed. “It’s still worth saying. I want you to know I’m sorry for all that, even if you don’t think I should be.” He paused.

“On a more important note, why are _you_ sorry?” He turned her own harsh inquiry against her. Connie sighed.

“I don’t know exactly what led up to… what happened… but I know that some of the stuff that happened between us… had to have played into it.” Steven took notice of how carefully she seemed to be choosing her words. She continued.

“Especially what happened that one evening," she was obviously referencing the day Steven had proposed.

“I shouldn’t have- I mean- I could have been more…” she couldn’t seem to sensitively describe what she meant. Steven stepped in.

“Hey, you don’t need to be so careful," he gently assured.

“I want to have an open, honest conversation. I’m ready to talk about it all. And, you have nothing to be sorry for either…," he averted his eyes and quietly added, “you were dragged into that one”.

Connie didn’t comment on the way he had flipped the blame on himself, and instead continued.

“Well, there were other times! I should have put you above my studies when I noticed something was wrong. You’re more important!” Steven gave a semi-frustrated laugh.

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one. Alright, so we’re not off to a great start. Let’s stop apologizing and talk.” Connie huffed.

“I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Let’s start with yesterday. No barriers, just say whatever comes to mind” Connie nodded in agreement.

“Alright. Well… first of all, how are you feeling? Different than before?” Steven nodded, thinking a moment on how to elaborate. In the days leading up to the meltdown, he’d felt so pent up and out of control that not even his physical form was behaving correctly. When his last resort with the diamonds failed to fix the problem, he’d deemed himself “unfixable” like a broken tv and given up.

“Not perfect, still got a lot of issues to resolve… but I’m definitely better. Crying it out helped, and so did sleeping it off. I talked to the gems and my dad this morning too.” Connie listened with a knowing smile as she nodded along.

“Do you… remember any of it?” She asked cautiously. Despite Steven’s encouragement to say whatever she was thinking, she still didn’t want to set off any bad memories.

“Like… being corrupted?” he clarified. Connie nodded. Steven took a moment to form an answer once again. He turned to look out in front of them as he recollected.

“I remember feeling angry… angrier than I’ve ever been.” His expression dropped as he spoke.

“Besides that and… wanting to destroy things, I remember hearing familiar voices… your voice.” He turned to face her.

“I started recognizing you guys and hearing what you were saying. Ultimately, it was you who brought me out of it… I felt you… kiss me.” His mouth turned at the corners as he said it, heat rushing to his face.

Connie couldn’t help the smile that crept on her lips, her own face heating up at the fact that he remembered. When she didn’t say anything in response, Steven continued.

“So, was… was it scary?”

Connie’s expression shifted to one of worry. Yes, she had been petrified. Not for her own life, not so much for the well-being of Beach City or even its citizens, but of the thing her best friend had become, and the fear of never seeing Steven again. She didn’t want Steven to think she’d seen him as a raging monster, just her friend who was so hurt and damaged that the trauma took hold of his entire being. She saw it as a cry for help.

“Well, of course I was scared, but not of you, just of losing you… we all were.” With that, she reached for his arm, taking it in her own to pull herself closer, and resting her head on his shoulder. He stared down at her, letting her response hang in the air.

“I’m sor-”

“Hush”, Connie cut him off.

Steven hushed. The silence was comfortable and welcome. It hung for a moment as Steven rested his head on Connie’s. The sound of the ocean lapping at the shore was all too familiar to Steven, being the very thing that put him to sleep at night. It was moments like these where it came alive with each wave, and rather than a rhythmic background noise, it was symphonic and beautiful. It brought memories of one particular evening.

“So, I uh, wanted to talk to you about last week," Steven finally said, breaking the silence. Connie lifted her head to face him.

“About the…” Steven nodded. She didn’t have to finish. Connie sighed.

“I’m sorry, Steven. I can’t help but feel that maybe if I’d stayed to talk things out, then maybe…”

“No”, Steven said. “I pulled you away from your studying without any warning. You didn’t know what was going on with me," he began. He paused, sighing.

“I want you to know that-I guess I didn’t understand the severity of starting a life together?” He took another moment to collect his thoughts, averting his eyes from her.

“I realized… I had no direction in my life. Growing up, I always knew I had some magical destiny, and you were a part of it. I never realized that destiny would come so soon, though. I’ve never had any plans besides being a crystal gem, and you already have the next decade or so of your life planned out.” He paused to breathe, and continued.

“I was scared by the thought of you all the way across the country with so many new people and experiences, so I thought I could just… follow you. I needed some reason to connect with you that isn’t aliens constantly plotting to destroy Earth all the time, but that’s not how this stuff works… You have your own life outside of all that. Garnet told me, ‘Your soulmate is your compliment, not your missing piece.”

He faced her once again. “Sorry for not realizing sooner.”

Connie smiled, clearly relieved.

“Steven, you don’t have to worry about being left behind," she assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Being such a long distance apart won’t be easy, but we’ve handled worse. And I know you’ll figure out what you want to do with your life.” Steven half-smiled.

“I still want you to be a part of it though”, he said softly.

“Of course I will”, she responded.

“We have plenty of living to do before we start a life together, but-" She removed her hand from his shoulder, instead taking his significantly larger hands into her smaller ones.

“Let’s start here," she finished, turning her body towards him and looking into his eyes as if silently communicating her intention. Steven watched as the gap closed between their faces, his heart suddenly picking up speed as he caught on. Time seemed to slow as Connie pressed her lips to his own, a long-overdue moment for them that neither of them ever had the guts to execute. Steven’s face burned as Connie pulled back just as quickly as she’d gone in. He stared almost in disbelief as he struggled to form any other expression. His hands remained softly enclosed in her palms as they stared at one another, unsure of what to say next.

Rather than speaking, Steven could only turn his body the same way she’d done before, the only warning of his next action being a large hand removed from her grasp and held gently to the side of her face as he once again closed the space and their lips met. Connie responded by resting her free hand on his shoulder. A glow from beneath Steven’s shirt erupted as they lingered there, nearly engulfing the two in light before Steven briskly pushed away, causing the light to dissipate.

“Oh shoot, I’m sorry, that’s just a natural reaction to you at this point," he apologized, removing his hand from her face and blushing madly.

Connie stared for a second before snorting and breaking out in laughter. Steven smiled, relieved that she wasn’t weirded out by the accidental almost-fusion, and joined in her laughter as she threw her arms around his neck. He pulled her close to him and held her tightly, having grown increasingly touch-starved since everything that had happened.

Connie’s head suddenly sprung up from off of his shoulder.

“Hey, I have an idea on how you can figure out your future!” his grip on her reluctantly relaxed so she could face him.

“What’s that?”

“Well, how would you feel about traveling some of the states to see which ones you might want to live in? If you want to leave Beach City, of course. You could take the Dondai and have that to do while I’m busy studying and touring schools.” Steven turned to look ahead, pondering the idea.

“A road trip… yeah, I like that plan.”

Connie dismounted Lion in front of her house, Steven doing the same to see her off. “See you later," he said, pulling her into a short hug.

“Oh, I forgot," Connie said as she pulled away.

“My mom wanted you to promise you’re getting professional help.” Steven smiled.

“Don’t worry, my dad is getting me a therapist. It’s gonna be online so I don’t have to drive out for every session.” He paused.

“So, she knows then?”

Connie blushed, wondering if she was out of line for telling her mom.

“I hope that’s okay. I was just so worried, and I know she wanted a follow-up on your condition, so I talked to her about it. She was just relieved you were okay and nobody got hurt.” Steven smiled in response.

“Of course that’s okay. Everyone in Beach City knows anyway, plus I’m glad you had someone to talk to.” Connie looked relieved at that.

“Alright, good.” As she turned toward her door, she stopped in front of it, turning back towards Steven.

“Let’s hang out more," she offered.

“I need to take more breaks.” At that, Steven beamed.

“Of course! Anytime you want.”

“Great! Bye!” she called as she stepped inside. Steven waved back, watching her disappear behind the door, and giving it a few seconds before closing his eyes and giving a celebratory “yes”. Having received both his first kiss and permission to see Connie more left Steven feeling better than he had in a very long time.

“Okay Lion, let’s head home," he said as he climbed on. With that, they headed off.


End file.
